Former UConn Huskies forward Liam McNeeley was selected No. 29 overall by the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. McNeeley became the No. 24 first-round and No. 52 pick in the NBA draft in UConn’s history.After the draft night, the ever-supportive UConn coach Dan Hurley tweeted a heartfelt message aimed at McNeeley showcasing his picture on UConn’s wall of first-round picks.”Exclusive Club鈥n the Wall鈥his guy is special and will have a big time NBA career!” Hurley tweeted.Dan Hurley also attended the draft event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn alongside McNeeley’s family.Liam McNeeley draft slide defended by Dan HurleyThe highly-regarded Liam McNeeley was projected as a lottery pick in several mock drafts including by ESPN and CBS Sports but he was one of the biggest sliders on draft night almost falling out of the first round.After McNeeley was picked No. 29 by the Charlotte Hornets, the charismatic Dan Hurley defended McNeeley’s slide tabbing him to succeed in the NBA in the future despite his shooting woes in college basketball last season (38.1% from the field and 31.7% from beyond the arc).鈥淪ome of those numbers are based on the team dynamics and having to take harder shots because we weren鈥檛 as good a team,鈥 Hurley said. 鈥淧art of it was the injury, part of it, I think, Liam puts a lot of pressure on himself because he wants it so bad, he鈥檚 an intense guy. So being able to channel that going forward, he鈥檚 got some of that Cam Spencer crazy competitiveness.”He鈥檚 got to learn to channel it like Cam, go from cursing and slamming the ball to getting back on task quicker. But yeah, I mean, sometimes you鈥檙e better off going 29th to a certain organization where you鈥檙e gonna have more of an opportunity than being picked 15th to a bad organization where there鈥檚 not a lot of opportunity at your position.鈥滻n 27 games played for the Huskies, McNeeley averaged 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 32.1 minutes per game as he led the Huskies to the semifinals of the Big East tournament and the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament where they lost narrowly to the eventual champions, the Florida Gators.Liam McNeeley sustained an ankle injury in January which caused him to miss eight games and last week he admitted that he returned early despite not regaining full fitness to help the UConn Huskies whose season was in danger of derailing.